All is old and all is new. The Udriște Năsturel stone house in Herăști (part II)
All is old and all is new. The Udriște Năsturel stone house in Herăști (part II)

Summary/Abstract: Due to outstanding features, some buildings become milestones for both the history of architecture and the preservation of cultural heritage. At the same time, however, the same special qualities that give such edifices the status and aura of landmarks overshadowed (at least in the past) other meanings, sometimes leading even to the elimination of some of the layers resulting from the historical evolution that the present (after the Venice Charter with its respect for “the valid contributions of various ages”) would consider at least as important. In most cases, those significances and historical strata are lost forever. Sometimes, however, the very interventions of the past that saved, but also impoverished these buildings offer the chance of a complete recovery of the meanings previously sacrificed in favour of the most remarkable ones. The “Stone House” in the village of Herăști is one of these buildings, its rich denotations and connotations being acquired along the three major “moments” owed to the Năsturel lineage, to Prince Miloš Obrenović and to the Stolojan family – meanings and “moments” exposed in a previous article. In the present one, the three restoration projects from the 20th century are addressed, as well as the works executed then, projects and works which, in the current view, are not scientifically founded (anymore) but which, paradoxically or not, currently offer the basis on which it is possible to develop an intervention that allows the effective in situ recovery of the meanings due to the more recent stages of the historical evolution of the complex.

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